Gardner City commission debates $20 reserved tee-time fee, solicitor to review restaurant requirement

Residents, commissioners and staff discussed new policies for Gardner City’s municipal golf course on matters including a $20-per-member fee for reserved tee times, tournament scheduling and a rule that tournament players use the course restaurant, which the city solicitor is reviewing.

The discussion unfolded after a resident representing a long-running golf group asked, “I wanted to ask the commission what the rationale was of charging $20 per member from our group for the tee times,” saying the group had played Wednesday tee times for about 50 years and that only about 35 members attend regularly.

The question came as commissioners defended the change as an effort to balance access and fairness. “It’s a service,” one commissioner said in explaining the fee structure, adding that a paid reservation guarantees tee times without members having to rebook each week.

Why it matters: group members told the commission the fee increases access concerns for long-standing players who expect regular reserved times. Commissioners and staff framed the fee as a way to manage limited peak-time availability and to offset administrative and facility support costs tied to guaranteed reservations.

On the restaurant requirement, a staff member told the commission, “City solicitor is looking at that right now,” referring to an existing regulation that appears to require tournament players to use the on-site restaurant at a fixed price. Staff described the rule as an attempt to avoid blocking out all prime tee times for outside tournament bookings that would leave the restaurant without its normal business. The staff member said the policy is “just being fair to the restaurant and everybody.”

Multiple commissioners and members raised scheduling impacts. One commissioner asked whether weekend tournaments that start in the afternoon would effectively eliminate reserved windows for members who hold restricted play times; members said some restricted memberships permit only limited weekend hours and that certain junior and restricted-member time blocks could be displaced by afternoon tournaments. The commission discussed modifying tournament windows or charging tournament organizers for reserved times to reduce impacts on regular members.

Operations and budget notes also featured in the discussion. Staff said an outside firm must perform additional testing related to a pipe issue, at an estimated added cost of about $10,000 for sampling and lab work. In a budget update, staff reported “total expenses of a million 97,000,” and said that equated to roughly a $163,000 property surplus for the year; staff said they would work this week with a colleague, “John,” to transfer money to cover deficits in specific budget line items.

Formal business at the start of the meeting included a motion to accept the minutes, which was seconded and approved with voice vote: “All of those say aye. Aye.” The commission did not take a formal vote at the meeting to change the restaurant requirement; instead, staff said they would return with legal guidance from the city solicitor on whether the municipality can enforce a restaurant-use requirement for tournament participants.

What’s next: staff will report back with the solicitor’s opinion on the restaurant rule and with any recommended changes to tournament scheduling or fee implementation. Commissioners and members indicated they will revisit the policy after monitoring its effects during the current season.